A flat packed furniture system includes a plurality of boxes, each comprising a packaging piece and a set of furniture parts, such that the set of furniture parts is flat packed inside the packaging piece, such that a plurality of parts in the plurality of boxes is configured to be assemblable as a furniture item, which can be a cabinet, such that a plurality of packaging pieces in the plurality of boxes is configured to be reused as packaging for the furniture item. Also disclosed is a method for flat packing furniture, including flat packing, shipping, unpacking, assembling, repacking, and reshipping.